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Toho Archive Accepts Unclaimed Film Masters After Tokyo Laboratory Shuts Down
posted on by Rafael Antonio Pineda
Tokyo Laboratory shut down on Thursday after 68 years of operation. The company's original announcement of its shutdown said that any unclaimed film masters still in its possession would be subject to disposal. TOHO Archive, just established this year, is a new company within the TOHO Group.
Tokyo Laboratory and its parent company TOHO announced in November 2022 that Tokyo Laboratory had ended its processing business after 67 years. The companies decided that it would be difficult to continue due to changes in their business environment, including increased movement toward distribution of digital cinema packages (DCP), or collections of digital files to store and convey digital cinema. Tokyo Laboratory stated at the time that it would shut down, but its digital imaging and video editing businesses would transfer to Toho Studio, while its archiving businesses would transfer to a new archiving company that TOHO will establish.
Tokyo Laboratory was founded in April 1955. The company has worked on video editing, film development, and archiving on numerous anime. The company also has grading, conforming, data management systems, and an in-house VFX team, for video services such as digital cinema support for theaters.
TOHO formed a business alliance with post-production company IMAGICA Lab. in September 2021 with a focus on moving toward digital video delivery as opposed to physical.
Source: Tokyo Laboratory, Animation Business Journal (Tadashi Sudo)
